Moffat's strike the catalyst for Dynamo's surge

Adam Moffat has made a name for himself since coming to Houston for scoring exciting goals. Sunday’s was his biggest one yet.

Nearly 20 minutes into a physical, intense match, Moffat hit a 30-yard blast that gave Houston a coveted early lead and ultimately served as the game-winner of a 2-0 triumph over Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

With Kansas City unable to clear the ball, forward Will Bruin beat SKC defender Seth Sinovic to the ball and dished to Moffat, who turned on a tricky bounce, caught the sweet spot and delivered a strike to the far upper-90.

“It was a goal to celebrate,” head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “The fans loved it. The players loved it. It gave us some energy as it always does. Anytime you score a goal it gives you confidence.”

Moffat’s 18th-minute strike opened up a game that was physical right from the beginning, with the visitors matching the Dynamo’s energy from the opening whistle.

“It was kinda tense out there,” Moffat said. “It was kinda an icebreaker, a good one. The start to the game, the first 15 minutes or so, it wasn’t really going anywhere. That kinda settled us into the game a little bit and then from there we just kept firing away.”

The Dynamo did indeed take control from there and never let up, eventually grabbing a second-half goal from Will Bruin that padded a two-goal lead in the aggregate series.

“Anytime you get a goal it gives you a lift, but the way he scored it made us feel like it was gonna be a good day for us and put the pressure on them,” forward Calen Carr said. “From there we responded well, and continued to attack … and we were rewarded with a second goal.”